Sunday, November 22, 2015

New Obama Regs: Homeless Men Must Sleep with Women

President Obama's Department of Housing and Urban Development has published an expansion of its 2012 “Equal Access Rule” concerning sexually confused (transgender) people, such that upon request, any homeless man who shows up at an emergency shelter must be allowed to shelter with the women.

The new rule is an update to an existing policy that barred discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people seeking public housing or housing assistance from the federal government. Under the proposed rule, the Department would provide access to housing and services based off of a persons gender identity, not the gender they were assigned at birth.

“A person seeking shelter is already in a very vulnerable situation, and they deserve to be treated with dignity when they request our assistance,” said HUD Secretary Julián Castro. “This rule takes us one step closer to full acceptance of transgender men and women, and will ensure they receive the proper services that respect their identity.”

The rule would have the most impact on sex-specific shelters, which would have to house transgender people based which sex they identify with, not the sex they were born as. For clarity, a transgender woman would be housed in a women’s shelter, not a men’s one. A 2011 study on transgender discrimination found that while one third of transgender people seeking asylum in homeless shelters were denied because of their gender identity, about 42% were housed in shelters that did not align with their sex. While in the shelters, people reported being subjected to harassment, violence, and sexual assault.

The proposed "Equal Access in Accordance with an Individual's Gender Identity in Community Planning and Development Programs Rule (Gender Identity Rule)" was created after reviewing and monitoring implementation of HUD's Equal Access to Housing in HUD Programs Regardless of Sexual Orientation or Gender Identity Rule (Equal Access Rule), which was published in 2012.

"With respect to facilities with shared sleeping or bathing areas, the policies recommended include addressing the needs of transgender persons and other persons who do not identify with the sex assigned to the individual at birth", according to the rule.

The proposal fell on the annual Transgender Day of Remembrance, a day to pay tribute to the people whose lives were lost due to anti-transgender violence.

“Gender identity means the gender with which a person identifies, regardless of the sex assigned to that person at birth,” the new definition reads. “Perceived gender identity means the gender with which a person is perceived to identify based on that person’s appearance, behavior, expression, other gender-related characteristics, or sex assigned to the individual at birth.”

The agency added, “Perceived gender identity may differ from the identity with which a person identifies.”

The proposed regulation also notes that the rule could apply to anyone, regardless of whether or not they use the term “transgender” to describe themselves.